Deconverted

The Deconstruction and Dismantling of the Contemporary Church

Jeffery Childress, John S. Knox

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781666790832, 9781666790900
• eBook ISBN: 9781666790917
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Is the modern Christian church losing the battle against postmodern society and the current hate culture? Deconverted reflects research gathered from interviews with once self-professed Christians who have now walked away from the church and their previously deeply-held religious beliefs. With so much at risk in the lives of postmodern seekers, who is being misled and what apologetical truths can the church learn from this phenomenon?

1

Introduction

The separation between the ideological extremes of Christianity and atheism is as wide as the boundaries of the known universe; however, it is not uncommon for people to make that monumental leap from one worldview to the other. The Christian who decides to rescind his religious faith and embrace atheism (the “deconverted” Christian, also known as an apostate1) initiates a wholesale reanalysis of the transcendent, of the self, of meaning, of morals, and of purpose.

Christianity is distinct from any other world religion, philosophy, or ideology in how it explains universal origin, meaning, destiny, and morality. The Christian message is also unique in its promise of a personal and life-changing relationship with the Creator God. One can hardly deny the influence that the Christian faith has had on global social existence over the past two thousand years. However, a growing number of believers who once claimed commitment to the transcendent message and transformative power of Jesus Christ have begun to rescind their belief in the faith and renounce formerly deeply held spiritual convictions. This phenomenon concerning people with roots in the Christian worldview who completely shift their ideology, radically transforming their perspectives to the point where they now consider their previous system of belief as evil and destructive invites exploration.

Many people take other tracks post-deconversion, such a shift to other religions or even a move to what one may consider to be “passive Christianity,” which involves a rejection of formal religious worship and community without necessarily rejecting the transcendent possibility of God or Jesus as an ideal example to humanity. Not surprisingly, postmodernity has shifted its focus and given approval to the apostate. The abyss between the two ideologies of belief and disbelief also correlates to the metaphorical gap between God and man—between a belief system based on a God-centered universe and a belief system based on a human-centered universe.

The recognition of a Creator-God has been a fundamental and ever-present tenet of humanity, embraced across many cultures and people groups. American philosopher and educator Mortimer Adler proclaimed, “More consequences for thought and action follow the affirmation or denial of God than from answering any other basic question.”2 Christianity, with its theological foundation being in the triune Godhead (which includes the person of Jesus Christ), started with a group of less than twenty people (probably uneducated laborers) and had its religious leader killed in a very public and embarrassing fashion at the hands of the Roman Empire.

Despite this improbable origin, which should have been catastrophic to any fledging faith, it became the official religion of the entire Roman Empire within 300 years. Christianity is still the favored religion of one third of the world’s population today. As of 2015, the United States has the largest population of Christians in the world.3 However, since 1990, the percentage of the United States’ population who consider themselves theists and followers of Jesus Christ has reduced dramatically—along with a corresponding increase in the number of those who do not declare a religious ideological affiliation, also known as “Nones.”4

This book seeks to investigate the rationale or apologetic behind the ideological shift away from belief in the Judeo-Christian God, the historically dominate influencer of Western culture and ethos. It will explore the possibility that society has a greater apologetic impact with anti-Christian principles than the church does in defense of Christian dogma. It will also explore the reality that people tend to intellectualize themselves away from the supernatural in favor of that which is natural, material, and therefore more “rational.”

1. In theological literature, “Apostasy” is a common term to describe religious deconversion and is viewed as an act of opposition that entails making a statement against the exited group. In other words, an “Apostate” is someone who not only leaves the group, but who actively opposes it. The terms will be used interchangeably in this examination.

2. Adler, Great Books, 561.

3. Pew Research, “Countries With the 10 Largest Christian Populations.”

4. Pew Research, “In US, Decline of Christianity.”

2

The Epidemic of the Emptying Church

There is evidence of a general shift in religiosity in the West. The impetus behind the shift is fodder for great sociological debate. Sociologist John S. Knox expounds on this topic in his work on radical individualism, which he termed, “Sacro-Egoism.”5 Knox illustrates the broad spectrum of thought in modern debate on the topic. He highlights the work of historian and sociologist Steve Bruce and his suggestion that even the modern religious have traded the transcendent for a version of naturalism.

What once was fundamental belief regarding the supernatural has “been diminished and is now psychologized or trivialized.”6 Bruce explains that religion heretofore was about the divine and our relationship thereto. The Bible is no longer seen as authoritative; Christ was merely a good teacher, miracles are unexplained phenomenon, and God is a vague power and possibly—simply representative of our own consciousness. Ironically, many people who claim the aforementioned also still claim the label of “religious” or “spiritual.” Some who hold those views also claim the label of “Christian” although those precepts have no basis in Jesus’s teaching.

In what could be considered the capitalist perspective on religiosity, Knox highlights the work of Sociologists Roger Finke and Rodney Stark as they describe rational choice theory, suggesting that America is simply reacting to modern churches in a market economy perspective.7 The churches who respond to the cultural shifts with the proper marketing will once again win their share of the market. Finke and Stark describe the conscious shift of the church as a lessening of “tension with the social environment.”8

A variation in this theme is addressed in the work by British scholars Heelas and Woodhead in describing what they deem as the Spiritual Revolution.9 Their research verifies evidence of this ideological shift. The authors state, “Some of the longitudinal data we have cited would appear to indicate that inner-life beliefs have overtaken or are overtaking beliefs more obviously belonging to a traditional theistic frame of reference.”10 They conclude that this shift may eventually completely replace the role once played by Christianity.11

In what will be a key theme of the apologetic response of this investigation, Hellas summarizes:

(Modern) spirituality is experienced as dwelling within the here and now; as integral to life; as inseparable from, a natural aspect of, what it is to be alive. Rather than relying on external sources of significance or authority, considerable importance is attributed to the voice of experience; experience which emanates from the heart of one’s subjective life, ultimately from one’s life itself.12

Evidence suggests that there is a perception ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: The Epidemic of the Emptying Church
• Chapter 3: The Investigation—Why Christians Deconvert
• Chapter 4: The Diagnosis—A Theological Inoculation
• Chapter 5: Learning for the Church—The Toughest Apologetic
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Appendix A
• Bibliography